


When Blue Skies Falter

by stormoftara



Category: Thrilling Intent (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Blood, Enough Blood to fill three swimming pools, Gen, I'm Sorry, because we don't have enough gregor angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-06
Updated: 2017-03-06
Packaged: 2018-09-28 17:14:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10141052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stormoftara/pseuds/stormoftara
Summary: Gregor and Dont go out to play, but something terrible happens back at the bar.





	

“Your love is like an arrow…” Markus hummed a tune to himself and scribbled down notes on a paper as he sat lined up next to Ashe and Gregor at the bar. Ashe was drinking and working on a map while Gregor was working on his knitting. He was making a scarf for one of Markus’s imps that appeared to be employed at the bar now. Gregor was doing his best to lose himself in his work, quickly working through each row. It was good to concentrate on this, rather than on the things he didn't want to think. If he didn't think those thoughts, they couldn't hurt him. That was the way to stay happy. Never ever think, don't think, just keep doing...

“Gregor.” Gregor heard a snapping noise. It sounded distant, like it was filtered through a deep body of water. “Gregor!” A hand was placed on his back, very gently. It was enough pull him back to reality.

“Huh?” Gregor glanced around. Ashe was behind him now, frowning slightly. “Is something wrong?”

“Dont came over. She wants to go play with you.” Ashe said, her brows still creased with concern.

Gregor glanced towards the front door, where his pigbat friend was waving at him. “Oh, sorry Dont. Guess I was concentrating too hard on my knitting. I'll be there in a minute.”

Gregor put his knitting away, and dashed towards the door, waving bye to his friends. “Have fun you two!” Markus called out melodically as Gregor pulled the door to the bar shut.

Dont looked at Gregor with a smile, “Hey! I found some huge rocks nearby. I bet you could lift them though.”

“Of course I can.” Gregor flexed his arm. “Show me the way.”

Dont lead Gregor to a nearby field, not too far from the bar, separated only by a small patch of forest. There were several rocks Gregor had never seen before, but he was excited to get lifting. He rolled up his sleeves, and grasped one of the bigger rocks. It was hard to even fit it between his arms, but he slowly lifted it up, his knees straight and locked into place.

Dont laughed and cheered, “Great job Gregor! But there is an even bigger one over here.”

Gregor let the rock he was holding fall to the ground. He looked over towards the next rock, eyeing it warily. It would be a challenge, but nothing that Gregor Hartway couldn't overcome.

The duo spent the afternoon laughing as Gregor picked up rocks, picked up Dont, and finally picked up Dont on a rock. Afterwards, Gregor fell back onto the grass, Dont at his side.

“Hey!” Dont said, pointing up at the sky. “Doesn't that cloud look like, hmmm, pigbats taking over the world?”

Gregor screwed up his eyes, squinting at the passing clouds, “I dunno, looks like one of Markus’s imps to me.”

“Do you think the imps are going to take over the world?! We can't let that happen.” Dont seemed very distressed.

“I don't think you have to worry about that.” Gregor said with a chuckle. “Imps are pretty squishy, and oddly damp…”

Dont continued pointing out clouds to Gregor, an overwhelming amount of them looking like pigbats of some sort. The sky was so blue, and the sun washed over him like a blanket of warmth. Gregor let Donts voice drift over him as he closed his eyes, enjoying the company of one of his greatest friends.

“That one looks like you slaying an Overbear!” Dont pointed out. Gregor opened his eyes and looked up, it did indeed look that. It was kinda cool. He wished he could save it, but the Kyrmera that Kyr was working on wasn't finished yet. It was a cool device that was supposed to save images forever. Right now it mostly exploded anything it was aimed at though.

A slight breeze blew across the meadow, and Gregor felt a sudden unease in his heart. It gripped him with a panic that came from seemingly nowhere. He sat up, gripping at his chest, his heart beating rapidly beneath.

“What's wrong Gregor?” Dont sat up as well and looked him over.

“I…” Gregor had the words in his head, but he couldn't seem to say them out loud, they got lost from mind to mouth. It was then he heard a rustling noise coming from the woods. In a blind panic Gregor jumped to his feet, pulling out his glaive.

“Gregor?” Dont, startled, turned into her pigbat form, but kept looking up at Gregor anxiously.

“Who’s there!” Gregor demanded, pointing his glaive towards the trees.

“Gre…” A gruff voice replied, but was cut off. Thog stumbled out from the tree line. He was haggard, and clutching at his chest. That was doing very little to staunch the blood that was now flowing through his fingers. Thog took one step forward before falling to his knees.

Gregor ran towards him as fast as his feet could carry him, his mind blind from dread. He managed to catch Thog before he fell over completely. “Thog, what happened? Are you okay?”

“The bar...was attacked, you have to save them…” Thog said slowly, his eyes unfocused as his face grew pale.

“Go, Gregor.” Dont pulled Thog away from Gregor, now in her humanoid form, and began looking through her bag for medical supplies. “I'll fix him up, help your friends.”

Gregor gave a brief nod, and ran off in the direction of the bar. Those pesky bad thoughts he tried so hard to keep at bay were now surfacing. He shouldn't have let his guard down. He shouldn't have left his friends alone. Something bad had happened because he wasn't there. He was supposed to protect them, but he had gone off on his own. Why did he leave them? Why? Why? Why?

The bar was in even more disarray than normal. The door was knocked off the hinges, and there was a deep red soaking into the ground near the entrance. The walls were splintered, punctured by arrows. Someone had lain siege to the bar relentlessly.

Gregor burst in the open doorway, his glaive at the ready, his eyes searching wildly for any signs of an enemy. He slowly lowered his glaive upon only seeing Markus left in the bar. He was in bad shape. He was on the ground near the front of the bar, several arrows pierced into his chest. His legs had severe slashes across them, as if someone had attempted to stop him from running.

“Markus!” Gregor ran over to him.

Markus had his eyes closed, but he slowly opened them upon hearing Gregor's voice. Gregor didn't want to agitate his wounds, but it was obvious he needed some serious healing. “Where's Ashe?” Gregor cried out, running to get some bandages to stop the bleeding.

“They, took her.” Markus coughed up a tiny bit of blood as he tried to speak.

“Who? What's going on?” Gregor’s voice grew higher pitched as he rushed around the ruined bar, the tables and chairs all knocked over, everything a huge mess. He couldn't find any bandages. What was he supposed to do now? He had to save Markus.

Markus could hardly speak, but managed to spit out, “The Meathians, I think. Hurry Gregor, there's no time.”

Gregor gave up his fruitless search and knelt down beside Markus. “I can't leave you here alone. Something bad might happen to you.”

“Help Ashe. She can heal me.” Markus lifted his hand up slightly, and Gregor took it into his own.

“I'll help Ashe and we'll be right back to save you. Everything will be alright Markus.” Gregor squeezed Markus’s hand tightly before he ran off in the direction he assumed Ashe went in. There were small splatters of blood along the pathway as he ran. He could hear a distant clattering of metal against metal. He increased his pace, running as fast as he could until his lungs felt like they were on fire. He couldn't slow down. He couldn't stop. Markus and Thog needed help and for that he needed Ashe.

Gregor came to a skidding stop near the end of the island. Ashe had her sword drawn against three men who were all wearing black, even black masks obscuring their faces. She looked worn out, panting as she tried to fend off her three assailants. Gregor took the stance of the charging minotaur, racing forward at a breakneck speed.

With a surprise attack, Gregor was able to cut through the man closest to him, his glaive piercing into him easily. The man gave a grunt of pain before falling to the ground. Ashe had a look of shock upon her face before turning and shouting, “Gregor?”

“We can talk later, let's get rid of these guys first.” Gregor lifted his glaive to parry a sword from the man at his left. The man at his right went for Ashe, so Gregor ignored him. One thing at a time. He stabbed forward, hoping to catch his opponent off balance, but the man leapt backwards.

Gregor quickly wiped his brow of sweat. His muscles ached, but he couldn't stop now. The man now facing him, seemed to whisper something into his sword. Taking his chance, Gregor brought his glaive down on the man. The man parried the blow, and Gregor swore he could him laughing.

“You won't think it's so funny once my glaive cuts you,” Gregor attempted to swing downwards, towards the man's legs to knock him over, but something strange happened. His glaive suddenly shattered into tiny pieces that went flying back towards his face. Gregor dropped the glaive’s hilt, covering his face so he wouldn't get cut by the shards. While he was left defenseless, he felt the man's sword cut into his side.

“Ugh.” Gregor fell to one knee, gripping his side. The man before him started to laugh once more. In a blind rage, forgetting him wounds, Gregor leapt at the man, forcing him over. He pinned him to the ground and slammed his head harshly against the pathway. The man fell unconscious.

Standing, a bit of blood dripping from his side, Gregor picked up the handle of the broken glaive. He had no weapon once again, but he wasn't going down without a fight.

The last man and Ashe were still fighting. Gregor threw the glaive handle at his legs, tripping him up. Ashe was finally able to gain the upper hand, and stabbed him in the throat. He fell down to the ground. Gregor gave a sigh of relief.

“Gregor, are… you alright?” Ashe said between gasps, she was doubled over, her hands on her knees as she attempted to catch her breath.

“I'm fine, we have to get back to the bar. Markus and Thog are injured!” Gregor pointed desperately towards the bar.

“Alright.” Ashe stood up straight. For a moment she seemed fine, but then her eyes grew wide. Gregor tried to discern her sudden shift in expression when he saw a shadow moving from behind her.

Ashe’s eyes grew yet wider as she realised what had happened. Blood began to drip from her mouth as she gripped at her chest. The front of her tunic was turning red.

Gregor realized there was a fourth attacker. He jumped over Ashe with a flying leap, attempting to tackle the man who had stabbed her to the ground. Mid-flight, he could hear the infuriating laughter again. In a puff, the man dissipated in a cloud of smoke. Gregor landed behind Ashe, now seeing the sword that had pierced her back.

Ashe fell onto her hands and knees, coughing and grunting from pain. Gregor knelt down beside her, his face contorted with worry. “What should I do? How can I help?”

“Just,” Ashe grunted, and pulled the sword out of her back. She groaned loudly with pain. The sword seemed to glimmer faintly as it hit the ground beside her. She placed a hand on her wound, and attempted to knit it back together. “Give me a minute.”

Gregor sat silently next to Ashe. He felt a bit useless, he hadn't been able to help anyone at all. He shook his head, now wasn't the time to think. Never think. Just act.

It took a moment for Gregor to realize that something was wrong. The green sparks that accompanied Ashe’s not magic didn't appear. “What's going on?”

“It's not working anymore.” Ashe’s strength gave out, and she fell over on her side. A small puddle of blood started to pool around her back.

“What do you mean? It has to work. We need you! Everyone is going to die.” Gregor let words spill from his mouth without really thinking. His heart was beating against his chest again, like the wings of a bird trying to escape from a cage. Hearts shouldn't beat that fast, probably.

“I'm sorry Gregor.” Ashe tried to look up at him, but she seemed to struggle to even keep her eyes open. “Just run away, don't let them get you.” Her eyes shut, and she stopped talking.

“Ashe? ASHE?” Gregor screamed to no avail. He had to get her back to the bar. He had to save her, she was his friend right? And then she could save everyone else.

He lifted her limp body from the ground, trying not to further damage her wounds. She felt so light, but his arms still strained under the small weight. His whole body ached, especially the place he was stabbed. He was covered in so much blood, not all of it even his. At least he was wearing red, right?

Taking each step slowly, Gregor made his way back towards the bar, trailing blood in his wake. It felt like a monumental task just to keep his feet moving forward, but he had to. He had to keep his family alive. He couldn't let it end like this. Not again. Gregor felt a wetness on his face, not from blood, but from tears. He couldn't cry at a time like this! Everything was going to be alright, he wasn't going to lose everything again. He just had to keep moving forward.

Gregor’s feet got caught up on a rock in the pathway, and he went sprawling to the ground. Ashe flew from his arms and landed with a sickening crunch about a foot away. Gregor groaned, and tried to get back up. His legs seemed unable to support him, and he crashed back down to the ground.

This was bad. Ashe was lying motionless nearby and Gregor couldn't even tell if she was still breathing. “It can't end like this. I'm supposed to be the hero.” Gregor tried to reach out for Ashe, but she was too far. He couldn't even do that. He had failed on every level. He had let everyone down. He couldn't save anyone, not even himself. He wasn't strong enough.

Gregor looked up towards the sky. It had grown so much more gray than he remembered it last. It felt like a lifetime ago, when he had been playfully laughing with Dont in that field. He'd never be able to do that again now. With the last of his strength, he lifted his hand towards the dark sky, as if begging some God to come and save him. As his hand fell back to his side, Gregor let out an anguished scream. He lay upon the ground, bloody, broken, and utterly defeated.

That's when a voice echoed in his mind. “Gregor?” It sounded like Dont, but she was supposed to be with Thog. “Gregor?” He felt like someone was shaking him.

Gregor's eyes flew open. Above him was the brilliant blue sky with the puffy white clouds. Dont was shaking him, her eyes narrowed with concern. “You were screaming in your sleep.”

Gregor sat up, scratching the back of his head. He looked down for a moment, making sure he wasn't wounded in any way. He appeared to be thankfully blood-free. “Sorry. Guess I was having a bad dream.”

Dont smiled at him, but it felt a bit unsure, like she was trying to reassure him somehow. “Okay, did you want to nap some more? You look tired.”

Gregor felt tired. He nodded his head, and Dont laid down next to him, cuddling up close. “I'll protect you from any bad dreams,” Don't murmured.

Gregor gave a low chuckle. Bad dreams didn't matter. He had to ignore them. He softly pat Dont’s head, and she purred almost like a cat. Gregor smiled. Everything would be alright. He just had to not think about it. Never think about it. Never ever think.


End file.
